Three weeks after announcing he would forgo his senior season at San Diego State and turn pro, Jamaal Franklin was playing 3-on-3 in Las Vegas with some other NBA prospects. He rose up for a dunk. He landed on the foot of Florida State guard Michael Snaer.

“I thought it was broken,” Franklin said.

It wasn’t (although Snaer and several others players were so concerned they accompanied Franklin to the hospital for X-rays), but Franklin was in a protective boot at the NBA pre-draft combine in mid-May and says his left ankle is still only “70-75 percent.” It has limited his individual workouts with teams interested in picking him in the NBA Draft tonight.

And it might not matter.

Franklin might not need to demonstrate his upside in person. Kawhi Leonard was doing that for him all month.

It adds an intriguing element to tonight’s proceedings, the notion that more than a dozen teams made a mistake on Leonard two years ago and might be loath to repeat history, watching the San Antonio Spurs forward guard LeBron James and post double-doubles in the NBA Finals.

“I think executives around the league are definitely giving that some consideration,” said Carlsbad-based agent Brian Elfus, who represents both San Diego State products. “Guys who passed on Kawhi or overlooked him, maybe they don’t want to do it with Jamaal. I think people realize they’ll regret it.”

The story line is similar. Long, athletic wings out of Steve Fisher’s SDSU program who didn’t exactly torch the net in college but who ran up the school’s electricity bill with midnight workouts, leaving early for the NBA Draft and hiring the same agent.

“Kawhi has definitely helped me out,” Franklin said of his draft prospects, which appear to have elevated from a bubble first-round pick to the low 20s. “People say we’re the same. They said Kawhi couldn’t shoot. They say I can’t shoot. They said Kawhi doesn’t have a position. They say I don’t have a position. But our work ethic, it’s exactly the same.

“A lot of people see us as underdogs, coming from San Diego State. But that’s why we grind.”

It might explain why Atlanta, which has the 17th and 18th picks, summoned Franklin for a second visit on Tuesday. The reason: New head coach Mike Budenholzer wasn’t there for his first workout and wanted a first-hand look at the 6-5 Aztecs guard.

Budenholzer wasn’t there because he was coaching in the NBA Finals as the lead assistant for the Spurs, the team that traded highly rated guard George Hill to the Indiana Pacers on draft night two years ago for the rights to the kid from SDSU who supposedly couldn’t shoot.

Leonard was taken with the 15th pick, just outside the 14-team lottery. You wonder: If NBA teams got a mulligan on the 2011 draft, how high would he go now? Top 5? Top 3? No. 1?

Franklin is shorter and lighter than the 6-7 Leonard, not as fearsome on the offensive boards and less of a lockdown defender in college. But he was a better scorer, able to create his own shot, and a better passer. Their perimeter shooting numbers were similar (Franklin made 28 percent of his 3s in his final season; Leonard, 29 percent) but Franklin has shown better accuracy and range in pre-draft workouts than Leonard did. In particular, one lights-out workout in Las Vegas earlier this month was witnessed by numerous NBA representatives.

Another plus that scouts have privately mentioned: his basketball IQ.

“People were shocked with the way I was able to play basketball, my understanding of the game, getting people in the right positions,” Franklin said.

Where will he be picked today? Where will anyone be picked? Even the No. 1 selection remains uncertain.

Three respected mock drafts slot Franklin at No. 15 to Milwaukee, where he worked out last weekend. Atlanta at 17 and 18 is certainly a possibility. Chicago is said to like him at 20. So do the Pacers at 23 and the Knicks at 24. Most insiders don’t think he’ll get past the Clippers at 25.

“When I came out, a lot of people thought I’d be a second-round pick,” Franklin said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll go in the first round. But no matter where I’ll go, I’ll make sure they made a good pick. Whoever gets me is going to get a player ready to play.”